(The
Best Years in Life) Tilapia is a mild flavored fish that has
become popular as a result of its low price, but something about this low
price is fishy. It is achieved by converting the young female fish into
males through the use of a toxic hormone drug, 17 alpha-methyltestosterone,
a synthetic version of testosterone, the hormone that produces male
characteristics.

Raising an all male
population allows fish farmers to produce bigger fish in a shorter time
period with less feed. It also allows them to produce fattened
profits. However, consumers have no idea that the fish they are eating have
undergone hormone-induced sex changes, and the long term consequences of
such changes to health and the environment have yet to be determined.

Almost all tilapia
sold in the U.S. is hormone drug treated

Tilapias are warm water
fish that originated in Africa and the Middle East. Most of the tilapia
sold on grocery stores today comes from fish farms in China, the most
polluted country on the planet.

The problem for tilapia
farmers is the quick maturation of the fish, at two to three months of age,
and their ability to start breeding at a rate of once a month. These
characteristics result in the overpopulation and the stunting of growth
because of the crowding of the fish. Another problem associated with a mix
of males and females is that the size of the fish for harvest vary from
small to large due to the faster growth of males. This makes it more
difficult to establish uniformity of product. For producers wanting high
yields of large-sized fish in three to four months, having all male fry is
preferable.

The most efficient and
least expensive method for achieving sex reversal is the use of 17 alpha-methyltestosterone.
If properly done, sex reversal with methyltestosterone treatment can be 98%
to 100% effective.

Treatment with
methyltestosterone is now the chosen method of producing tilapia in fish
farms worldwide. Virtually all tilapia sold in traditional American
supermarkets and grocery stores is tilapia fed with methyltestosterone.

Methyltestosterone
is highly toxic to the human liver

Methyltestosterone was
created in an attempt to modify the chemical structure of the predominantly
male hormone testosterone, so it could be patented as a drug. It has
been available for several years as a hormone substitute for men and women
with a deficiency of testosterone, and has been a favorite of body
builders. The joining of the 17 alpha-methyl group to testosterone
allows the drug to pass through the liver without being metabolized when
administered orally. However, it also makes the drug highly toxic to the
liver and capable of causing liver cancer. The drug has been taken off the
market in Germany due to its high liver toxicity.

Industry reports claim that
after five days of withdrawal from the hormone drug laced feed, the levels
of male sex hormone in the treated fish return to normal, indicating that no
methyltestosterone residues are present. According to these reports, the
fish are therefore safe to eat. However, no long term independent studies
have been completed to determine if this statement is indeed true.

Hormone drug
treatment of fish is restricted in other countries

In some countries,
restrictions exist on the sale of hormone treated fish unless it can be
proven that there are no risks to human health from consuming them. Where
such restrictions are in place, marketers of fish raised on hormone drugs
can't sell their products. Marketing of treated fish is illegal in the EU
countries and in India.

Many people do not want to
eat food that has been altered with substances that change its basic
biology. Although it can be argued that the ability of technology to
provide cheap food is a good thing, new technologies often bring unintended
and unwanted consequences. Little is known about the effects of the
testosterone drug on fish or on the environment. Clearly, the hormone drug
passes through the fish and enters environmental channels such as water and
land. Unintended consequences from the use of sex changing drugs in fish
would not be the first unintended consequence for the food industry. That
industry thought it was a really good idea to use pulverized parts of cows
in animal feed to help speed cheap food to market and fatten bottom lines.
The result was cases of mad cow disease.

One large health oriented
grocery chain, Whole Foods Market, has refused to sell tilapia treated with
methyltestosterone, and has scoured the world to find fish farms that did
not use the drug. They worked out arrangements with farms in Ecuador and
Costa Rica to supply hormone-free fish. No fish containing hormones are now
sold in their fish cases.

Barbara is a school psychologist and the author of Dividend Capture, a book on personal finance. She is a breast cancer survivor using bioidentical hormone therapy, and a passionate advocate of natural health with hundreds of articles on many aspects of health and wellness. She is the editor and publisher of AlignLife's Health Secrets Newsletter.

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